Credit register



Jan; 28, 1930. R. JAMES ET AL CREDIT REGISTER Fild May 10, 1924 nvmvm. Ric/land James. By John Eflzmgan.

ATT E Patented Jan. 28, 193i) UNITED STATES RICHARD JAMES AND JOHN E. DUNGAN,

PATENT OFFICE OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; SAID JAMES AS- SIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF T0 REMINGTON RAND INC., OF TONAWANDA, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE CREDIT REGISTER Application filed May 10,

The present invention relates to devices for holding charge tickets, that is, records of sales made upon a credit basis and is adapted for use in retail establishments having a plurality of credit customers.

Included in the objects of the invention are the provision of a unique drawer having novel index holding or identifying means; the provision of shelving for holding such drawers and cooperating therewith to pre vent accidental separation there-between; and the production ofa device having an improved door arrangement.

These, and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novel construction of the several elements of the device, the combination of these elements, and the arrangement of the parts of the register when in assembled relation, all of which are fully illustrated in the accompanying single sheet of drawing hereby made a part of this specification and in which Figure 1 is an end elevation of a register embodying the invention, the lower portion thereof being broken away to show the drawer and door arrangement;

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof, the lower portion being broken away for the same purpose;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a drawer member;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the front of such drawer taken on the line 41 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation of the front thereof;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail, in elevation, of the shelving arrangement employed in the register;

Figure 7 is a perspective detail of such shelving arrangement and Figure 8 is a plan view of one form of card or ticket used in connection with the register.

Like reference characters are used to designate similar parts in the drawing and in the specification which follows.

Reference should be had to Figures 1 and 2, front and end elevations of the register hereinafter described. I11 said figures the or- 1924. Serial No. 712,439.

dinal 10 is used to designate end members, 11 a top connecting said members, and 12 a back for the register and oined to said end members and top.

A bottom member 13, having a pocket 14 at its front, is secured to end members 10 and back 12. The bottom, back and end members hereinabove described are of sheet material preferably metal, and have an asbestos lining 15, the whole forming a fireproof boXlike structure having an inclined open front.

A front 16, having a handle 17 which operates a slidable locking member engaging said top 11, is adapted to close the open front of the register when in a slanting, substantially upright position. When so disposed, the lower end of cover or front 16 is seated in pocket 1A of bottom 13 and the locking member 17 may then be made to engage the top 11 whereby to prevent in and out movement of said cover or front 16. Lateral movement of said cover 16 is prevented by end members 10 and up and down movement by top 11 and bottom 13.

When it is desired to open the register,

the lock 17 is released, and the cover or front 16 is drawn outwardly at its top, the lower end sliding upon the oblique internal portion of pocket 14 until front 16 has attained a substantially horizontal position. When said cover 16 is horizontal it may be pushed rearwardly into the register in a hori zontal space 18 provided therefor between the bottom 13 and a shelf 19 extending across the entire device and secured to the ends 10 and the back 12.

A second shelf 20 is disposed above shelf 19 and extends transversely across the entire register to form, as illustrated, an open storage space 21 and a space for a deep drawer 22 shown at the right hand side of Figure 2. Open space 21 and storage drawer 22 both extend from the front of the register to the rear wall 12 thereof. A single storage drawer may be substituted for the arrangement just described. Between shelf 20 and top 11 are a plurality of spacers best shown in Figures 6 and 7, such spacers in conjunction with the ends 10 providing a plurality 10 of narrow shelves adapted to support drawers 23 fully illustrated in Figures 3, 4t and 5, to which reference will now be had.

Each drawer 23, comprises a blank (not illustrated) having a bottom section 24, extensions 25 adapted to be bent at right angles to 24 to form the sides of the drawer 23 and an extension 26 at one end adapted to be bent at right angles to bottom 24 to provide the rear end of drawer 23 and having a suflicient extension of material to enable a second fold or bend to be made therein to provide a flange top 27 extending narrowly over the top of the drawer to hold a ainst displacement slips or cards therein. *or convenience a finger or thumb cut-out 28 is provided in flange 27 to admit of a ready removal of slips or cards contained in drawer 23.

The said blank has a second extension 29 go adapted to be bent at right angles to bottom 24 to rovide the front of the drawer 23 and an additional extension portion 30 carried by said front for forming a flange top under which credit slips are inserted when it is desired to confine them within the drawer 23.

In the process of stamping out the blank for forming the drawer 23, a substantially rectangular perforation is cut through front 29, the die or other cutting device leaving three tabs projecting inwardly toward the center of the cut-out portion. The tabs 31, at o posite ends of the punched out portion of t e front, are bent inwardly as disclosed in Figure 4, whereby to form supporting members for an index card which is slipped in from the back of front 29 by bending said index card at its middle. Such card is held against accidental displacement by engagement with the material of front 29 along its top and bottom and by engagement with tabs 31 at its ends and back. A third tab formed in drawer front 29 and designated .32, is bent outwardly and irregularly to form a drawer pull as is made clear in Figures 3, 4 and 5.

At the rear of the drawer 23, a locking pin or rod 33 is provided. The simplest way of forming such locking pin is to perforate sides 25 to receive a wire or rod, such wire or rod 33 having outwardly extending ends as shown in Figure 3.

For the purpose of understanding the drawer supporting portions or shelves, an examination of Figures 6 and 7 should now be had. From Figure 2, it will be noted that a plurality of spacers or partitions 34 are provided. Partitions 34 comprise a single sheet of material, preferably metal, bent at its middle 35 to provide walls 36 extending rearwardly toward the back 12 of the device. Each wall 36 is punched to provide adjacent its front a plurality of substantially triangular apertures 37. The material is further stamped or cut horizontally and vertically away from apertures 37 to form, by bending the narrow strips thus produced, tangs serving as rests 38 upon which the drawers 23 rest. A plurality of shelves are thus produced and the shelves are so spaced that they provide horizontal separators between the superposed drawers 23, that is, each drawer 23 reciprocates in the space between adjacent shelves 38.

Locking pin 33 reeiprocates in the open space formed by bending down the shelf 38 and as the drawer 23 is pulled outwardly to allow access thereto, said pin 33 engages the wall of the material about aperture 37 until said material arrests outward movement of the drawer as is indicated in Figure 6. In this position the drawer 23 is entirely open and in a substantially vertical position, admitting of ready insertion and removal of charge slips. The interior portion of each end 10, which preferably comprises an outer and an inner sheet of material, to provide protective air spaces, is punched in the same manner as wall 36 of partition 3 so that each series of drawers 23 has guide members, top and bottom, in the shelves 38 as hereinabove described.

Figure 8 discloses an improved type of card adapted, to be used in the bottom of each drawer for the purpose of keeping a concise record of the weekly credit purchases of each customer, the weekly payments thereof, and the balance due at the end of any particular week, in order that the retail storekeeper may know whether the customer is good, indifferent or bad pay.

From the description hereinabove given, the operation of the device should be manifect. In the retail store, a number of index strips, designated 39 in Figure 3, are prepared in advance. These are cut by scissors or torn along predetermined perforations and then inserted into the front of each drawer, as heretofore described, by first bending the index card at its middle so that its ends may be inserted from the back between tabs or supporters 31. The charge slips adapted to be used in the drawer 23 are of conventional style, detailing the date, the name of the customer, his address, and the items purchased. Either the original or duplicate is placed in the drawer 23, the drawer being first drawn out as far as the locking pin 33 will permit. It is usual to insert the bottom of the charge slip beneath the front flange top 30 and then press the top of the charge slip into the drawer beneath the flange 27 at the back.

When a customer settles his account the credit 1 slips are removed from drawer 23, thumb space 28 admitting of ready access to the drawer.

Reference should be had to Figures 6 and 7 which show that the material which is cut from the walls 36 or from the end members to provide the shelf 38, is not entirely utilized for that purpose. A section at the front is entirely removed. This permits travel of the pin 53 beyond the front of the shelf 38, al

lowing the drawer 24 to be withdrawn sufliciently far to disengage itself from shelves 38 and rest flatly upon the front of the register, as is shown in Figure 6. Permitting the drawer to clear the various shelves 38 in the manner indicated, adds greatly to accessibility, and permits insertion into and removal from said drawer of sales slips with the entire drawer 24 exposed.

We claim:

1. A drawer to receive sales checks and the like comprising a single sheet material having end and side extensions, said extensions being fabricated to provide a drawer of uniform width and length having at opposite ends horizontal portions overlapping such sales checks and preventing their accidental displacement from said drawer.

2. In a credit register, a drawer as described in claim 1, and in which one of said end extensions is provided with an opening having projecting tabs, said tabs being adapted to be bent to form index holding means and a handle for said drawer, the bottom and one of said overlapping portions of said drawer cooperating with said index holding tabs to prevent accidental displacement of an index member disposed in said drawer.

3. In a credit register, a drawer having a front formed with an aperture having projecting sections of material, two of said sec tions being opposite and adapted to form index holding members, and a third providing a handle for said drawer, the bottom of said drawer and one of said projecting portions co-operating with said oppositely disposed sections of material to prevent accidental displacement of an index member carried by said drawer.

4. A credit register comprising ends and partitions spaced therefrom incised to form bendable portions defining a plurality of apertures cut therein, said portions being bent at right angles to the material of said ends and partitions to form drawer rests, a drawer positioned between each pair of said rests and means integral with said drawers extending into said apertures for preventing the complete withdrawal of said drawers.

5. A credit register as described in claim 4:, and in which said partitions comprise sheet material having sections bent to form parallel and spaced walls. i

6. A credit register as described in claim 4:, and in which said means are constituted by pin members extending into said apertures and engaging the material thereabout to prevent accidental displacement from said register.

7. A credit register comprising drawer supporting members of sheet metal having portions of the material thereof cut and ar ticulated to provide drawer slides, a part of such material cut to form said slides being removed at the front, and a plurality of drawers intermediate said members, each of said drawers having a pin member adapted to ride in the opening formed by cutting the material of said drawer supporting members, said drawers when pulled forwardly being adapted to disengage themselves from said slides with said pins in the cut away sections formed to permit of said drawers being downwardly hung with their entire contents exposed.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination with a casing, of a partition disposed therein, said partition being composed of spaced sheets of material, tangs struck from said partition sheets and confronting walls of said casing, and drawers resting on said tangs for slidable movement relative to said casing.

RICHARD JAMES. JOHN E. DUNGAN. 

